The global ceramic coatings industry is a rapidly evolving market. The current scenario in the global ceramic coatings market is dominated by number of major players that include APS Materials Inc., Bodycote PLC, Praxair Surface Technologies Inc., Kurt J. Lesker Co. and so on. These companies are focused on investment to establish new production facilities and capacity expansion of ceramic coatings to achieve economies of scale, product innovation, and expansion in order to capture and improve market share.
Market players are concentrating on increasing their production capacities, with expectation of a surge in ceramic coatings demand from the industry; especially, from North America, Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Africa, and Latin America. Companies are focusing their investments to set up new facilities mainly in emerging regions and increasing global presence to address the growing demand in emerging markets. Aerospace & Defense, Transportation & Automotive, and Healthcare are the leading segments driving the growth for ceramic coatings in the developed and emerging countries.
In the recent past, expansions have dominated the strategies adopted by ceramic coatings players globally. The major market players have invested large amounts in emerging countries for entering and enhancing their market position through capacity expansion and new plant establishment. For instance, Praxair Surface Technologies opened a coating manufacturing facility in Singapore to support increasing demand for coatings used in aviation and energy markets. The facility will greatly increase the production of ceramic coatings to meet the demands of South East Asia.
Further, the leading market players invested in their R&D facilities to develop new products to meet their customers’ needs. The fruit of their intensive R&D over the years is a high temperature and abrasion resistant coatings. These new products will cater to the demand for special industrial applications.
The market leaders have adopted different strategies for the developed and developing countries. Mergers and acquisition also played an important role in the strategies. For instance, Kurt J. Lesker Company has acquired a new facility of 40,000 sq. ft. in U.K. which will serve both as a warehousing and manufacturing facility. The strategy of the market players is focused on developing technology, new products development, expanding production capacities and investing in new emerging geographies.
